Solar Electric Question

[GuitarDude]

Hi All. I am moving to Ainaloa soon from California and am considering putting in a solar electric system. I am wondering what kinds of results other folks have had considering the rain/cloudy weather @ times. Any info would be greatly helpful..Steve

[nana valley]

If you put in a search on Punaweb for solar, you will find many pages of topics and remarks for the subject. I have solar water heating and it works great. I live in Nanawale which gets lots of clouds and rain but I always have hot water during the day after about 10AM. This setup keeps my electric bill around $70.
I found two links you might find interesting. But there were many more.


http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=12852&SearchTerms=solar,system
http://www.punaweb.org/Forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13636&SearchTerms=solar,system

[terrandshar]

Hi, we've had solar elec. and water for over 20 yrs. up here in Hawaiian Acres, we always have elec. sometimes the water isn't as hot as we'd like though. We tried to have the frige run on elec. but had to switch over to propane. It all depends on how many panels your gonna get......solar panels are certainly alot less expensive than 20 yrs. ago!!! The Solarman in HPP has really good prices....

[GuitarDude]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the real information from people who are using solar as opposed to sales people. I will probably bring some panels with me. I have seen some pretty decent prices recently. I will also check out The Solarman. Thanks for the tip. Steve

[birdmove]

A genet I know recently had is house converted to all solar. He said the bill ran about $25,000.



Jon in Keaau/HPP

[terracore]

If you are running out of solar hot water check to make sure your controller is heating the water to the temp you want (instead of reaching a lower temp and then just stopping to circulate through the panels) and that whatever system it uses (temp gauge, timer, whatever) is functioning properly so it's not trying to circulate the water at night or when the sun isn't out. We have 3 people in our household, shower every day, etc and have never ran out of hot water even after several days of cloudy weather. I've never seen the gauge below 125 degrees in the 80 gallon tank. It was heating the water to 170 and I lowered the setting to about 155 to increase tank life. Maybe we'll have a different story in the winter.

We love our solar system and I've never turned the backup electrical breaker on. Its great to not have to scream at the teenager for using up all the hot water.

[GuitarDude]

I have been reading through the solar water heater comments on this thread & have a question. Are these systems on properties that are on the grid? If so how much $$ do you estimate that's saved on your helco bill? I hadn't put much thought into a solar hot water system, but this has me thinking. Thx. Steve

[ericlp]

Steve...

Big fan of solar (anything)... Tho, when I got here I knew I wouldn't be able to afford solar for awhile ... Eventually I'll work on getting solar hot water. We are really happy with our propane tankless I bought off of Amazon for 100 bucks. We are still on our first tank and we take 5-10 minute showers daily and I'd estimate still 1/4 tank left. Not bad for 16 bucks it's lasted us from june and I suspect well be filling it up at the end of october. That's less than 4 bucks a month for hot water. Best thing is we can control the temp and never worry about running out.

But we don't wash cloths with hot water nor do we have a dishwasher or anything else hooked up to hot water. But if you look at the average house hold use a quick search on the net will tell you that most households 1/3 of the power goes to heating hot water.

We are not the typical house hold we use less than 2KW a day and that is with a high efficient 20 Cubicfoot fridge. We also cook with propane.

[bananahead]

I am 100% offgrid, Im up at top of Hawaiian Acres, slightly more rainy than Ainaloa. I only have a couple panels and 2 trojan batteries. It works fine most nights (daytime always has power), but if its been overcast and Im using TV (DVDs) alot I sometimes will charge the batteries w/generator too so I dont run out by midnight. The panels always bring in some power even if its raining or overcast, but obviously work better when its sunny and blue. My setup is cheap, the drawbacks are I cant really use anything with a heating element (ie coffeemaker, microwave, ricecooker, hairdryer, toaster, etc.) without it maxing out my system (works fine if I use generator for these). I mainly use the power for charging other batteries (ie computer, powertools), and for my stereo and TV (DVDs), waterpump, and a couple lights. My fridge is propane (about $18 month), and stove in propane ($3 month), I also have a new Paloma instant hot water heater but I havent hooked it up yet (cold showers for me), and have a propane heater but rarely have used it.

save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[GuitarDude]

@ericlp..I sent you a reply via email, did you get it?
@bananahead, I see. If your system was larger it would give you enough power for the heavier uses of current. About propane? Is it a viable alternative for an on the grid house? How available & how much per gal?
Thanks to both of you for responding.
Steve